Thursday, Mar 31 2011 9:59AM
An Alaskan tribe has received a federal grant for housing and community development projects.
Alaska's Cantwell Native Council has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build a tri-plex housing complex in the rural community, reported the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
The money came from the Indian Community Development block grant program, which provides grants to encourage
economic community development. Lee Jones, a HUD spokesman, told the newspaper these grants are only available for federally recognized tribal organizations.
While there were about 250 applications, the paper said only 50 grants were awarded. Jones said grant winners had to show they would put the money toward many uses.
"The winning grantee has considerable flexibility," he said. "They can build housing, infrastructure, community facilities."
In December, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that $65 million in funding was being made available to support community development and provide
affordable housing assistance to American Indian reservations. The money can also be used to expand job opportunities, while the department said almost $4 million was being reserved to address immediate health and safety issues in those communities.